Wednesday, September 8, 2010

I am the river

"Imagine for a moment that we are water molecules moving along the river's flow, and we belong to it...more than it belongs to us."

Renowned artist Derek Besant has created a contemporary art installation of 12 larger than life photo-based water portraits of local Calgarians. The water portraits appear on Calgary Transit buses, C-trains, LRT stations and Pattison Outdoor Group billboards from July 17 – September 13. Besant uses his imagery as a metaphor for humans' relationship with the life-sustaining Bow River, while reflecting the celebratory aspects of each individual's relationship with the Bow.

"People are 70 per cent water and we can think of Calgarians as being 70 per cent Bow River. This installation connects the people of Calgary back to the river," says Besant.

The river is made up of many unseen drainage tributaries, underground systems, aquifers and watersheds that spread through the cityscape like a nervous system. Besant's water portraits flow through the city, targeting key city sites above ground which echo these spreading water systems below.

Besant worked with project partner the Pattison Outdoor Group who generously donated the space to realize the installation across the city.

http://www.calgary.ca/bow

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